Video: CNN on Todd Palin’s membership in the separatist AIP

“The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won’t be buried under their damn flag.” Who said this? Osama bin Laden? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Bill Ayers? Try the founder of the Alaska Independence Party (AIP), a party Todd Palin has been part of.

The quote by AIP founder Joe Volger kicks off an in-depth look at the separatist movement and the late Volger’s threats of violence for the cause of Alaska’s secession from the US. Salon’s David Niewert says members of the group are largely benign, although potentially dangerous “when threatened” and ideologically similar to the Oklahoma City bombers. While not a member, Sarah Palin is “closely associated” with the group, has attended their convention in the past, and this March she sent a personal message to the 2008 AIP convention, videotaped in the governor’s office. The McCain campaign called CNN’s investigation a “smear,” claiming that it would be “no different than if your network ran a piece questioning Obama’s religion.”

CNN’s Rick Sanchez asked Niewert if the AIP is a religious organization. Niewert: “Not at all. It’s purely political.”

“The Palins and The Fringe,” CNN, 10:56

After the jump, a video interview with former AIP chair and Palin “friend” Mark Chryson.Mark Chryson interview, Salon, 5:13